Recently, our son’s mother-in-law Cindy came across several Disney recording gems at a flea market and she was nice enough to give them to me.

All three records — one is a 12-inch long-playing record, the other two are smaller 6- and 7-inch discs — feature the Mickey Mouse Club and The Merry Mouseketeers, as they were sometimes referred to during the show’s prime in the mid-1950s.

One of the smaller records is a Disneyland Record and Book titled “Mickey Mouse, Brave Little Tailor,” while the other is titled “Songs from the Mickey Mouse Club” and was part of a series of official Mickey Mouse Club Records.

The liner notes on the cover of that record read: “Exclusively on these low-priced official Mickey Mouse Club Records are the voices, songs and games from Walt Disney’s wonderful daily one-hour TV show. Here are Mickey, Donald and Jiminy Cricket — Jimmie Dodd and The Merry Mouseketeers for your child’s enjoyment, participation and education.”

The songs on the album run the gamut of what was played during a typical “Mickey Mouse Club” television show, which was broadcast on ABC in glorious black-and-white Monday through Friday in the mid- to late-1950s.

The “Mickey Mouse Club” was TV’s first variety show geared to children, with such regular features as a topical newsreel, a Disney cartoon and a serial, as well as music, talent and comedy segments featuring the singing and dancing Mouseketeers.

Each day of the week had a special theme: Monday was Fun with Music Day; Tuesday, Guest Star Day; Wednesday, Anything Can Happen Day; Thursday, Circus Day, and Friday, Talent Round-Up Day.

Easily the most popular song to emerge from the “Mickey Mouse Club” days was “The Mickey Mouse Club March,” written by Jimmie Dodd. “Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E ...”

Jimmie Dodd, the leader of the Mickey Mouse Club.The Walt Disney Company

Dodd was a veteran actor and songwriter who was originally hired to write songs for the show. He had appeared in 77 films before his Mickey Mouse Club gig, mostly in uncredited roles.

Among his many songwriting credits prior to his association with Disney was “Washington,” which is recognized (but rarely heard) as the official song of Washington, D.C.

Although Dodd was initially hired by Disney to write songs for the show, he won over Walt Disney and became the show’s adult host after performing one of his own compositions — “The Pencil Song” — for the boss.

Dodd and Roy Williams, a long-time Disney animator, were the only adults on the program, with a cast of young and talented Mouseketeers drawing most of the nation’s attention.

Instead of hiring slick, young professional performers, Walt Disney opted to go with boy- and girl-next-door types who would give the show more of a genuine, relaxed atmosphere.

During pre-production of the show in 1955, there was a mad scramble to write as many songs as possible to fit in with the show’s format.

Dodd became one of the primary songwriters, composing the opening and closing tunes, as well as some of the themes for the special “days” — “Fun with Music,” “Today is Tuesday” and “Anything Can Happen,” which are all included on the “Mickey Mouse Club” album.

An official Mickey Mouse Club recording in red vinyl.Chuck Schmidt Collection

Disney also enlisted the talents of studio stalwarts Buddy Baker, George Bruns and Tom Adair. Bruns, in fact, wrote many of the show’s lead-in and fade-out “cues,” for the “I’m No Fool” series, the Mickey Mouse Club Newsreel segments, and Fun With Music Day, among others.

During the extensive search to find songwriters leading up to the start of the “Mickey Mouse Club,” a woman named Hazel George was enlisted to pitch in.

Ms. George, known professionally as Gil George, was not only the Disney Studios nurse, but she was Walt Disney’s long-time personal nurse, therapist and close confidante. She also dabbled in writing song lyrics.

She would go on to collaborate with Bruns and composer Paul Smith for many Disney films and TV shows, including the “Mickey Mouse Club.”

On the album, she’s listed as the co-writer on “Happy Mouse” with Smith and “Stop, Look and Listen” and “Talent Roundup” with Bruns.

“Happy Mouse” is sung by Mickey Mouse, but there is some question as to just who is the voice behind the mouse on this recording.

Walt Disney, of course, was the original voice of Mickey from his first appearances on the silver screen until the late 1940s. Jimmy MacDonald served as Mickey’s voice from the 1940s until his retirement in the mid-1970s.

However, Walt stepped out of “retirement” to voice Mickey again for the introductions to “The Mickey Mouse Club” show TV. After much research, I haven’t been able to confirm that that’s Walt singing the song, but I have a feeling it is.

Also of note on the album is “The Triple R Song,” which was taken from the “Adventures of Spin and Marty” serial shown regularly on “The Mickey Mouse Club.”

The series featured David Stollery as the rich, orphaned Martin (Marty) Markham and Tim Considine as the less-well-to-do Spin Evans and their escapades at the Triple R Ranch, a boys’ western-style summer camp.

The entire album reminds us of a simpler time, when “Meetin’ at the Malt Shop” after school was one of the highlights of the day ... before hurrying back home to catch the latest edition of “The Mickey Mouse Club” on TV.